{{Short description|Type of British colony directly administered by the British central government}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Use British English|date=December 2010}} [[File:Coat of arms of England (1603–1649).svg|thumb|Coat of arms of King James I. In 1624, the Crown revoked the royal charter earlier granted to the Virginia Company, and assumed direct government of the colony.]] A '''Crown colony''' or '''royal colony''' was a colony governed by England, and/or later by Great Britain or the United Kingdom, as part of the English and later British Empire.<ref>{{cite web |last1=writer |first1=Staff |author-link1= |last2= |first2= |author-link2= |display-authors= |author-mask1= |author-mask2= |date= |year= |orig-date= |orig-year= |location= |editor-last1= |editor-first1= |editor-link1= |editor-last2= |editor-first2= |editor-link2= |display-editors= |editor-mask1= |editor-mask2= |title=The Windward Islands and Barbados |script-title= |title-link= |url=https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/Islands%20of%20the%20Commonwealth%20Caribbean%20Study_4.pdf |url-access= |trans-title= |format= |department= |website= |script-website= |trans-website= |type= |series= |language= |edition= |publication-place= |publisher=Islands of the Commonwealth Caribbean Foreign Relations |publication-date= |agency= |page=388 |pages= |no-pp= |arxiv= |asin= |asin-tld= |bibcode= |bibcode-access= |biorxiv= |citeseerx= |doi= |doi-access= |doi-broken-date= |eissn= |hdl= |hdl-access= |isbn= |ismn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |jstor-access= |lccn= |medrxiv= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |ol-access= |osti= |osti-access= |pmc= |pmc-embargo-date= |pmid= |rfc= |sbn= |ssrn= |s2cid= |s2cid-access= |zbl= |id= |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-format= |archive-date= |access-date=21 October 2025 |via= |quote-page= |quote-pages= |quote=Barbados Success-fully resisted British efforts in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to abolish its House of Assembly and install crown colony government (see Glossary). The British had found local assemblies to be intractable and cumbersome to manage from London. Under the system called crown colony government, which was installed in all of the Commonwealth Caribbean islands except Barbados, the British replaced these argumentative assemblies with a uni-cameral legislature, the majority of whose members were appointed by the governor, and in which the king theoretically represented the lower classes... |script-quote= |trans-quote= |postscript=}}</ref> Such colonies usually had a governor representing the Crown and thus holding executive power of the territory; this person was appointed by the UK Government (through the monarch), and governed the relevant territory with or without the assistance of a locally appointed or elected council. In some cases, especially in larger colonies, this council was split into two: an executive council and a legislative council, and the executive council was similar to the Privy Council that advises the monarch. Members of executive councils were appointed by the governors, and British citizens resident in Crown colonies either had no representation in local government, or limited representation in a lower house. In several Crown colonies, this limited representation grew over time. As the House of Commons of the British Parliament has never included seats for any of the colonies, there was no direct representation in the sovereign government for British subjects or citizens residing in Crown colonies.
The administration of Crown colonies changed over time and in the 1800s some became, with a loosening of the power of royal governors, self-governing colonies, within which the sovereign state (the UK Government) delegated legislation for most local internal matters of governance to elected assemblies, with consent of the governor, overseen by the Colonial Office and the Board of Trade and Plantations. The Colonial Office gave way to the Dominion Office for some of these territories in 1925. Elected lower houses had their beginnings in the House of Burgesses of the Colony of Virginia in 1619 and the House of Assembly of the Parliament of Bermuda in 1620. While initially limited in government even with an elected lower house, over the centuries in some Crown colonies, more independent authority was given.
Like most colonial establishments, the main focus was the extraction of local resources and raw materials. All remaining British colonies, whether Crown (such as the Falkland Islands) or self-governing (such as Bermuda), were renamed "British Dependent Territories" from 1 January 1983 under the British Nationality Act 1981. Many British citizens in the colonies (with the exceptions of the Falkland Islanders and subsequently the Gibraltarians) found that their "Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies" {{clarify|date=October 2021|reason=Already restrictive to CUKCs who had no immediate connections with the UK as a result of the Commonwealth Immigrants Acts 1962 and 1968 and the Immigration Act 1971.|text=had changed overnight to British Dependent Territories Citizenship, a form of British citizenship that stripped them of some of their rights, including the right to reside and work in the United Kingdom.}} From 2002, the dependent territories have been known officially as British Overseas Territories.<ref name=bota2002>{{cite web| title=British Overseas Territories Act 2002| publisher=Gov.Uk| url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/8/contents| access-date=11 July 2012| archive-date=30 January 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130040455/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/8/contents| url-status=live}}</ref>
==History== Early English colonies were often proprietary colonies, usually established and administered by companies under charters granted by the monarch. The first "royal colony" was the Colony of Virginia, after 1624, when the Crown of the Kingdom of England revoked the royal charter it had granted to the Virginia Company and assumed control of government of the territory.<ref>Porter, p. 477.</ref>
Executive crown governors are sometimes complemented by a locally appointed and/or elected legislature with limited powers – that is, such territories lack a fully sovereign government locally, as some powers (eg over foreign relations, or constitutional amendment, or defense) remain in the hands of the parliament or executive government in London. For example, while the House of Assembly of Bermuda has existed continuously since its first session in 1620, Bermuda has only had a fully sovereign locally elected responsible government since 1968. (Bermuda became a Crown colony in 1684, when the government revoked a royal charter given to the Somers Isles Company, successor to the Virginia Company, which had previously controlled administration, including the appointment of governors; thenceforth (until 1968) the government in London appointed the Governor of Bermuda.){{Cn|date=May 2024}}
Despite its later usage, the term "Crown colony" was used primarily, until the mid-19th century, to refer to colonies that had been acquired through wars, such as Trinidad and Tobago.<ref>[http://www.ttparliament.org/about.php?mid=50 History of Parliament: Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613232939/http://www.ttparliament.org/about.php?mid=50 |date=13 June 2017 }} – Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago.</ref> From the mid-19th century, the term was more broadly applied to every British territory other than British India,<ref>{{citation|author=Mark Doyle|title=The British Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2fJgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|year=2018|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-4198-9|pages=82–|access-date=13 May 2019|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729190129/https://books.google.com/books?id=2fJgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|url-status=live}}</ref> including many self-governing colonies, amongst them the Province of Canada, Newfoundland, British Columbia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and New Zealand.<ref>Olson, p. 343.</ref> {{Campaignbox British Empire World War II}} By the mid-19th century, the monarch was appointing colonial governors only on the advice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who in turn -- depending on the level of local government and representation present in the colony -- would also take soundings or receive suggestions as to the best person to appoint from those in the colony's extant ''in situ'' government.<ref>Jenks, p. 70.</ref>
===Reclassification (1981)=== {{further|British Overseas Territories citizen}} The term Crown colony continued to be used until 1981, when the British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified the remaining British colonies as "British Dependent Territories". By this time, the term "Crown colony" referred specifically to colonies lacking substantial autonomy, which were administered by an executive governor, appointed by the British Government – such as Hong Kong, before its transfer in 1997 to the People's Republic of China.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} In 2002, the ''British Overseas Territories Act 2002'' further changed their name to British Overseas Territories.{{Cn|date=May 2024}}
==Types== {{More citations needed section|date=May 2024}} There were three types of Crown colony as of 1918, with differing degrees of autonomy:
Crown colonies with representative organs locally, such as Bermuda, Jamaica, Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) and Fiji; typically such governments consisted of two legislative chambers (they were 'bi-cameral) -- an upper house with Crown-appointed councillors (MLCs) and a lower house with locally elected members (MPs).
Crown colonies with nominated governing and legislative bodies, such as British Honduras, Sierra Leone, British Windward Islands and Hong Kong, were staffed entirely by Crown-appointed members, with some appointed representation from the local population. Hong Kong had a representative council following the introduction of election for the Hong Kong Legislative Council in 1995.
Crown colonies ruled directly by a governor, such as Basutoland,<ref>Jenks, pp. 71–4.</ref> Gibraltar, Saint Helena and Singapore, were fewest in number, were often smaller in territory or population, and had the least autonomy.
==List== {{Incomplete list|date=March 2023}} The "from" column lists the year the colony began to be administered by the Crown. These colonies may have existed under a different type of English colonial administration before then. {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |+Crown colonies |- ! Name of colony ! from ! to ! class="unsortable"|Reason for change of status |- | {{flagdeco|Aden}} Aden | 1937 | 1967 | Became part of the Federation of South Arabia. |- | {{flag|Akrotiri and Dhekelia}} | 1960 | 1982 | Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flag|Anguilla}} | 1980 | 1983 | Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flag icon|Antigua and Barbuda|colonial}} Antigua | 1663 | 1967 | Became an associated state. |- | {{flag icon|United Kingdom}} Ashanti | 1902 | 1957 | Became part of the dominion named Ghana upon its establishment in 1957. |- | {{flagicon|Bahamas|colonial}} Bahamas | 1718 | 1973 | Became an independent Commonwealth realm. |- | {{flagicon|Barbados|1885}} Barbados | 1663 | 1966 | Became an independent Commonwealth realm. |- | {{flagicon|Lesotho|colonial}} Basutoland | 1884 | 1966 | Became independent as Lesotho in 1966. |- | {{flagicon|British Honduras|colonial}} Bay Islands | 1852 | 1861 | Became part of the Republic of Honduras in 1861<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Waddell |first1=David |title=Great Britain and the Bay Islands, 1821–61 |journal=The Historical Journal |date=1959 |volume=2 |pages=59–77 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X00021786 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/abs/iv-great-britain-and-the-bay-islands-182161/1147DBC5042E4CD1E2A3F4B684B30619#article-tab |access-date=21 August 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> |- | {{flag|Bermuda}} | 1684 | 1982 | Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flag|British Antarctic Territory}} | 1962 | 1982 | Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} British Bechuanaland | 1885 | 1895 | Became part of British Cape Colony in 1895. |- | 23px|border|link=Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) British Columbia | 1866 | 1871 |Became part of Canada in 1871. |- | {{flagicon|British Guiana}} British Guiana | 1831 | 1966 | Became independent as Guyana in 1966. |- | {{flagicon|British Honduras}} British Honduras (renamed Belize in 1973) | 1884 | 1981 | Became independent (as Belize) in 1981. |- | {{Flag icon|British Indian Ocean Territory}} British Indian Ocean Territory | 1965 | 1983 | Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flagicon|UK}} British New Guinea | 1888 | 1902 | Transferred to Australia as the Territory of Papua. |- | {{flagicon|British Burma}} Burma | 1937 | 1948 | Separated from British India in 1937 and became a Crown colony. Became independent in 1948 as Burma (later Myanmar). |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Province of Canada | 1841 | 1867 |Became part of Canada in 1867. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} Cape Breton | 1785 | 1820 |Annexed to Nova Scotia in 1820. |- | 23px|border|link=British Cape Colony Cape Colony | 1806 | 1910 |Became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910. |- | {{flag|Cayman Islands}} | 1962 | 1982 |Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flagicon|Ceylon|colonial}} Ceylon | 1815 | 1948 |Became independent in 1948 as Dominion of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka). |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Christmas Island | 1888 | 1958 |Became a territory of Australia. |- | {{flagicon|Cyprus|colonial}} Cyprus | 1914 | 1960 |Became independent as Cyprus in 1960. |- | {{flagicon|Dominica|1955}} Dominica | 1763 | 1967 | Became an associated state. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} East Florida | 1763 | 1783 |Ceded to Spain. Later became part of the United States. |- | {{flag|Falkland Islands}} |1841 |1982 |Became a British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flagicon image|Flag of Fiji (1924–1970).svg}} Fiji | 1874 | 1970 | Became independent as Fiji in 1970 |- | {{flagicon image|Flag of The Gambia (1889–1965).svg}} Gambia Colony | 1888 | 1965 |Became independent as The Gambia in 1965. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} Georgia | 1755 | 1776 |Became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flag|Gibraltar|ensign1939}} | 1713 | 1982 |Became a British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flagicon image|Flag of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1937–1976).svg}} Gilbert and Ellice Islands |1916 |1976 |A colony (and also then UN protectorate) divided into two distinct colonies (Kiribati and Tuvalu) in 1976 in preparation for independence. |- | {{flagicon image|Flag of the Gilbert Islands (1976–1979).svg}} Kiribati | 1976 | 1979 | Became independent in 1979. |- | {{flag icon|Gold Coast}} Gold Coast | 1821 | 1957 |Became independent in 1957 with Ashanti and Northern Territories of the Gold Coast as Ghana. |- | {{flag icon|Grenada|1903}} Grenada | 1763 | 1967 | Became an associated state. |- | {{flag icon|UK}} Heligoland | 1814 | 1890 | Ceded to the German Empire. |- |{{flagicon|Hong Kong|1959}} Hong Kong |1843 |1982 |Imperial Japan military occupied 1941–1945. Reclassified as a British Dependent Territory in 1983. Transferred to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 pursuant to terms of 99-year lease then expiring. |- | {{flagicon|Jamaica|1957}} Jamaica | 1655 | 1962 |Became independent in 1962 as Jamaica. |- |{{flagicon|Kenya|colonial}} Kenya |1920 |1963 |United with the Kenya Protectorate in 1963 to form the independent country of Kenya. |- |{{flagicon image|Flag of Labuan (1912–1946).svg}} Labuan | 1846 | 1890 |Administered by British North Borneo Company from 1890 to 1904. |- |{{flagicon image|Flag of Lagos Colony (1888–1906).svg}} Lagos |1862 |1906 |Became part of Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria in 1906. |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Lower Canada | 1791 | 1841 | Became part of Province of Canada in 1841. |- |{{Flagicon image|Flag of Malacca (1946-1957).svg}} Malacca |1946 |1957 |Became part of Malaya in 1957. |- | {{flagicon|Malta|1943}} Malta | 1813 | 1964 |Became independent in 1964 as the State of Malta. |- | {{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} Maryland | 1689 | 1715 |Reverted to proprietary rule in 1715, and became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} Massachusetts Bay |1691 |1776 |Became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flagicon|Mauritius|1923}} Mauritius | 1810 | 1968 | Became independent as Mauritius in 1968. |- | {{flag|Montserrat}} | 1636 | 1982 | Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | 23px|border|link=Colony of Natal Natal | 1843 | 1910 |Became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910. |- | 23px|border|link=Newfoundland Colony Newfoundland | 1825 | 1907 |Became the Dominion of Newfoundland in 1907, and later joined Canada in 1949. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} New Hampshire |1692 |1776 |Became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} New Ireland |1779 |1783 |Ceded to the United States of America after Revolutionary War and again after War of 1812 (1814-1815). |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} New Jersey | 1702 | 1776 | Became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flagicon|New South Wales}} New South Wales | 1788 | 1901 |Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. |- |{{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} New York | 1685 | 1776 | Became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flagicon|New Zealand}} New Zealand |1841 |1907 |Became the Dominion of New Zealand in 1907. |- | {{flagicon|Nigeria|colonial}} Nigeria | 1914 | 1960 | Became independent as Nigeria in 1960. |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Norfolk Island |1788 |1914 |Placed under administration of Australia in 1914 as a non-self governing territory. The island was self-governing between 1979 and 2015. |- | {{flagicon image|Flag of North Borneo (1948–1963).svg}} North Borneo | 1946 | 1963 | Became part of Malaysia in 1963 as Sabah. Labuan separated from Sabah in 1984 to become a Federal Territory.<ref name="Malaysia Act 1963">''See'': Malaysia Act 1963</ref> |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} North Carolina | 1729 | 1776 |Became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Nova Scotia | 1710 | 1867 | Became part of Canada in 1867. |- | {{flag|Orange River Colony}} | 1900 | 1910 |Became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910. |- |{{flag|Pitcairn Islands}} |1887 |1982 |Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- |{{flag icon|Penang|1952}} Penang |1946 |1957 |Became part of Malaya in 1957. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} Quebec | 1763 | 1791 | Divided between Upper and Lower Canada and the Northwest Territory. |- |{{flagicon|Queensland}} Queensland |1859 |1901 |Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. |- | {{flagicon|Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla|1958}} Saint Christopher, Nevis and Anguilla | 1882 | 1967 | Became an associated state. |- | {{flagicon|Saint Helena}} Saint Helena | 1659 | 1982 | Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flagicon|Saint Lucia|1875}} Saint Lucia | 1814 | 1967 | Became an associated state. |- | {{flagicon|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|colonial}} Saint Vincent | 1776 | 1969 | Became an associated state. |- | {{flagicon|Crown Colony of Sarawak}} Sarawak | 1946 | 1963 | Became part of Malaysia in 1963.<ref name="Malaysia Act 1963"/> |- | 23px|border Seychelles | 1903 | 1976 | Separated from British Mauritius in 1903 and became a Crown Colony and became independent in 1976. |- | 23px|border Sierra Leone | 1808 | 1961 |Became independent as Sierra Leone in 1961. |- | {{flagicon|Singapore|colonial-1952}} Singapore | 1946 | 1963 | Became an autonomous state within Malaysia in 1963 and fully independent in 1965.<ref name="Malaysia Act 1963"/> |- | {{flagicon|South Australia}} South Australia | 1834 | 1901 |Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} South Carolina | 1729 | 1776 |Became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flagicon image|Flag of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate (1900–1914).svg}} Southern Nigeria | 1906 | 1914 | Part of the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Merged with Northern Nigeria Protectorate as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. |- | {{flagicon|Southern Rhodesia}} Southern Rhodesia | 1923 | 1965/1980 | Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965 as Rhodesia; formally reverted to colonial status in 1979 as Southern Rhodesia; independence granted in 1980 as Zimbabwe |- |{{flagicon|Straits Settlements}} Straits Settlements | 1867 | 1946 | Imperial Japan military occupied 1941–1945. Separated into the Crown colonies of Penang, Malacca and Singapore.<ref name=ColonyOfSingapore>{{cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/cf47ce98-0e14-4c1f-a6f7-cb55c99b4df6|title=The Straits Settlements is dissolved|access-date=29 August 2015|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225061242/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/cf47ce98-0e14-4c1f-a6f7-cb55c99b4df6|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | {{flagicon|Tasmania}} Tasmania | 1825 | 1901 | Named Van Diemen's Land until 1856, when it became the colony of Tasmania. Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia, as one of six founding colonies that became states, in 1901. |- | {{flag|Transvaal Colony}} | 1877 | 1910 |Became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910. |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Tobago | 1877 | 1889 | Became part of Trinidad and Tobago |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Trinidad | 1802 | 1889 | Became part of Trinidad and Tobago |- | {{flag|Trinidad and Tobago|1958}} | 1889 | 1962 | Became independent in 1962 |- | {{flag|Turks and Caicos Islands}} | 1962 | 1982 | Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flagicon image|Flag of Tuvalu (1976–1978).svg}} Tuvalu | 1976 | 1978 |Became independent in 1978. Formerly part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony/Protectorate. |- | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Upper Canada | 1791 | 1841 | Became part of Province of Canada in 1841. |- |23px|border Vancouver Island |1848 |1866 |Merged with the Colony of British Columbia in 1866, which later joined with other colonies to become the nation of Canada in 1871. |- | {{flagicon|Victoria}} Victoria |1851 |1901 |Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. |- | {{flag icon|British Virgin Islands}} Virgin Islands |1713 |1982 |Became British Dependent Territory in 1983. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} Virginia |1624 |1776 |Became part of the United States of America in 1776. |- | {{flagicon|Western Australia}} Western Australia | 1829 | 1901 |Swan River Colony from 1829 to 1832. Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. |- | {{flag icon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} West Florida | 1763 | 1783 |Ceded to Spain. Later became part of the United States. |}
==See also== {{Portal|British Empire}} *British protectorate *Crown dependency *Direct rule over Northern Ireland
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== {{refbegin|2}} *{{cite book | first = AS | last = Ehrlich | title = Human Organization, 33.2 | year = 1974 | ref = Human Organization, 33.2 | url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/1310294182 | id = {{ProQuest|1310294182}} }} *{{cite book | first = Josef | last = Ehrlich | title = Economic protectionism, Vol.6 | year = 1916 | publisher = Clarendon press | ref = Economic protectionism, Vol.6 | url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/1310294182 | id = {{ProQuest|1310294182}} }} *{{cite book | first = Edward | last = Jenks | title = The Government of the British Empire | url = https://archive.org/details/governmentbriti04jenkgoog | year = 1918 | publisher = Little, Brown, and Company | ref = refJenks }} *{{cite book | first = Edward | last = Jenks | title = The Government of the British Empire | url = https://archive.org/details/governmentbriti04jenkgoog | year = 1918 | publisher = Little, Brown, and Company | ref = refJenks }} *{{cite book | first = James | last = Olson | title=Historical Dictionary of the British Empire|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1996|isbn=0-313-29366-X|ref=refHDBE}} *{{cite book | first = Andrew | last = Porter | title = The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998 | isbn=0-19-924678-5 | ref=refOHBEv3}} *{{cite book |last1=Wrong |first1=Hume |title=Government of the West Indies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hIx3hR0-HkIC&pg=PP1 |access-date=2010-03-30 |year=1923 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=England |isbn=1-113-74149-X |page=71 |chapter=The Old Representative System: The Change To Crown Colony Government |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hIx3hR0-HkIC&pg=PA71 |quote=The phrase 'Crown Colony Government' is used with various meanings. In the broadest, and perhaps most correct, sense it is applied to all the colonies in which the Crown retains the real control of the executive (i.e. to all the West Indian colonies). By both official and common usage, however, it is often narrowed as to exclude colonies with elected Assemblies, though without a responsible executive. |archive-date=8 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408171932/https://books.google.com/books?id=hIx3hR0-HkIC&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }} {{refend}} {{Kingdom of England}} {{NBPremiers}} {{Governors of Gibraltar}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crown colony}} Category:Governance of the British Empire Category:1981 disestablishments in the British Empire Category:History of colonialism